, believes Covid restrictions have helped take whistlers out of the firing line

Motherwell and Celtic in May, 2004 and (inset) his doppelganger, Pierluigi Collina but they are following their teams on TV and are going to be as infuriated as ever at the thought of rival players getting off with stuff.

“This system takes that away and, as a result, I think the anger at the refs, who might not have caught the fouls in the games themselves, is not there. At least not to the same extent, anyway.

“Listen, football is a game of angles, and referees only get one at a time.

“You can be having a great game, but get your view of a certain incident blocked. If your assistants don’t catch it, then that is it gone.

“The retrospective stuff does give the match officials a bit of protection in that respect.”

The former Grade One official believes the other big change in terms of how referees have been handling games this season has been the absence of supporters inside stadiums.

“I think that one is massive, I really do,” said Rowbotham.

“You can be talking about taking charge of important top- flight matches.

“But when you are out there, the atmosphere is what you would encounter in a training match.

“Yes, players are giving their all, and managers and backroom staff may be shouting the odds from the sidelines.

“But the heat is not there.

“What you are left with is just the game itself, meaning the referee can focus on the incidents in a calm and composed manner.

“As a consequence, I think we are possibly getting a higher standard of officiating this season.

“Certainly, I do not remember seeing anything like the scrutiny on the number of errors made by refs – and remember these are human beings we are talking about here – as there have been in previous years.

“That would suggest it is an easier working environment for officials.”

The irony of that last statement is that Rowbotham reckons he would hate it.

“I loved taking charge of big occasions and was fortunate enough to be involved in plenty of them,” he said.

“There were the Old Firm derbies, World Cup qualifiers and, of course, the Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Dundee United in 2005.”

In that end- of- season showpiece,

The refs who are in charge just now will have to remember this is just a temporary situation

won 1- 0 by Martin O’neill’s Celtic, he awarded the Hoops a penalty five minutes from time for Garry Kenneth’s foul on Craig Bellamy.

Chris Sutton took the kick, but slipped and sent the ball high over the crossbar.

“That was a big call but that is what you were there for,” he said. “Being part of those big matches, and walking out into that wall of noise, was something special.

“The adrenaline pumps away like mad, especially when you have important calls to make.

“But these are the days you have dreamed about, in the same way as players do growing up.

“I have refereed games at the likes of Forfar and Arbroath when there is hardly anybody in the crowd, so I saw it from both sides.

“Without question, you wanted to be involved in the ones that are packed to the rafters with 50,000 or more in the ground.

“I know there would have been times when a good chunk of those supporters would have been sending abuse my way.

“But that was OK. It was part of the deal.

“The refs who are in charge just now have to remember that this is a temporary situation we are living through. The sooner we can get back to something like normal, the better.”

For Rowbotham, that will mean easing himself away from his new- found passion for baking, and returning to his after- dinner speaking duties, a circuit in which his resemblance to the aforementioned Pierluigi Collina comes in handy.

“The man is a legend, the best of all time,” said the Scot.

“With the height and the lack of hair, there is something of a visual similarity between us, and we have had good fun about it when we have met up on official business.

“I usually do a Collina bit when I am talking at the dinners, and it seems to go down pretty well.

“Who knows? Maybe he is out there in Milan and Venice, trying to kid on dinner guests he is John Rowbotham!”